Planning is both the most critical and the most challenging phase of any procurement operation. It provides direction towards how the function intends to secure the supply security of the organization. When it comes to bid management, a sound procurement plan will help balance the often conflicting goals of generating savings and satisfying internal customers. In this course, we provide a thorough explanation on how to approach the planning of procurement objectives and initiatives. We delve into the different qualitative and quantitative forecasting techniques as they relate to inventory planning and we demonstrate how different vendor integration strategies can be applied to help sustain operations and projects.

This course uses a variety of individual exercises, team exercises, case studies and videos.

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

·         Write strategic procurement objectives and initiatives to support long term directions

·         Arrange 'spend items' into categories that support planning of go-to-market strategies

·         Apply demand forecasting techniques to improve planning of procurement activities

·         Generate vendor integration strategies to ensure supply security

·         Evaluate vendor bids in a scientific manner to support selection decision making

Purchasing and supply chain professionals at all levels of the organization who are involved in planning, sourcing, buying and bid selection activities, as well as personnel who are involved in the purchasing process.

·         Procurement planning

·         Business analysis

·         Structured thinking

·         Business forecasting

·         Inventory planning

·         Performance evaluation